MONETA Czech Open: Lehečka and Veselý Through to the Doubles Semis!

07.06.2019 10:13:49 | Thursday saw singles quarterfinal and doubles semifinal matches at the Moneta Czech Open tournament. What was most important for the Czech tennis? Lehečka and Veselý defeated the second-seeded couple Zelenay, Molčanov in the doubles semi-finals! The two Czech Daviscup representatives will challenge the Austrian-Slovak couple Oswald, Polášek for the doubles title at the Centre Court on Friday. The latter couple became the first doubles finalists in the MONETA Czech Open tournament.

What did Veselý and Lehečka say after they won the semi-final? “At the beginning we didn’t know what to play against the opponents. They are doubles players who’ve been on the tour for a long time and who play well together. It was important to make them play long rallies so that they wouldn’t be so relaxed,” said Veselý. “In the second set we started to serve well, gradually disturbed them and increasingly took the upper hand.”

Jiří Lehečka: “I unfortunately lost my serve in the first set. However, we still had some chances on return, but we didn’t take them. They proved to be tough opponents and finished the first set on their serve with ease. In the second set we already played quality tennis: we broke the opponents’ serve at 4:3, were leading 5:3 and Jiří showed his experience and took advantage of our serve.”

It was a great success to beat the defending champions. “We were well aware that we were playing a good-quality and, most importantly, experienced couple. We tried to use every opportunity to get them under pressure which we finally did in the super-tiebreak. The only possible way to beat them was to play our best tennis.”

What were the best qualities of the couple Molčanov – Zelenay? “They have a big serve and great volley, can read the game, know about one another and cover the entire court. They’re well-coordinated and play well together. On the other hand, this is our very first time and it took us a while to get used to one another. I think we disturbed them so much that we could control the match easily in the end,” said Veselý.

Did Prostějov give rise to a new doubles couple? “We’d both appreciate it. Considering that it’s been our first time, the semi-final is a great success. It’d be great if we could get more used to each other and play ATP tournaments instead of challengers. That’s what we’d appreciate but we have to admit that there’s great competition.”

Jiří Lehečka added: “This is our first time and we’re getting used to one another. It’s a great success that we are playing the final here. I believe we can have good results in the future if we work hard.”